The Werewolf Mega-Bundle 2 (Ten BBW Paranormal Erotic Romance Stories) (19 page)

“I don’t understand!” Adeline cried. “Please let me go home to my father. Please!”

Alrik set her down on the wooden floor of the ship, and then barked some gruff orders to his men. They set sail moments later, and more tears streamed down Adeline’s face as she watched the village slowly disappear from view the further out to sea they headed.

Finally, Alrik turned his attention back to Adeline.

“We have a long voyage ahead. I suggest you go and get some rest while your body adjusts to being at sea. I will explain everything to you later,” he said, pointing to the back of the longship.

“No! I want to know now!” she replied.

His eyes blazed with fury as he advanced towards her and grabbed her by the arm again.

“I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but I’m in charge here. None of these big, strong men that you see on this ship would ever talk back to me or disobey a direct order. Go and sleep. Now!”

Adeline was terrified, but something in the man’s face told her that he would never hurt her despite his anger towards her. The feeling from earlier had returned, and she felt her underclothing getting strangely damp as a tingling sensation spread through her belly and between her thighs.

Confused and distressed as to what was happening with her body and her life in general, she retreated to the back of the ship and curled up on a blanket that appeared to have been set aside for her. She could tell this because it was clean and finely-made compared with the others, and right next to it sat a small half-open chest, filled with women’s clothing.

Thinking of her father and wondering if she would ever see him again, Adeline drifted off to sleep, hoping that when she woke up, this would have all been some cruel nightmare and she would be happy and safe back in the village.

***

Several hours later, Adeline awoke with great chagrin to find that she was still on the ship, gently swaying and rocking as it crossed the vast seas. Rubbing her eyes as they adjusted to the darkness, she saw several men sleeping not far from her, snoring loudly.
At least they left me alone,
she thought gratefully. She couldn’t see Alrik anywhere, and realizing that she was desperately thirsty, she climbed out from under the blanket and looked around.

It was dark outside, but the stars and moon bathed the ship in a dim light. Looking around for someone or something to give her water, Adeline headed around to the other side of the ship and froze in horror at what stood before her.

Only yards away stood some kind of terrifying beast. It was facing away from her, but she could still tell what it was; a tall, powerful creature with the body of a man and the head of a wolf. At least, it mostly had the body of a man – its hands and feet appeared to have sharp claws, and its back seemed to be covered in dark fur.

Without thinking, she let out a gasp, and then her hand flew to her mouth as she realized that it had heard her. It turned to her, its yellow eyes blazing with some unfamiliar expression as it regarded her, and then it charged towards her, its teeth bared as it growled.

Adeline turned and ran, not quite knowing what exactly she was doing.
Where am I running to? Overboard? Please, God… help me!
she prayed, before screaming as she felt two strong arms wrap around her waist. Looking down, she saw that the two arms were human with no claws, but she continued to scream anyway.

“Be quiet! You’ll wake everyone!” a deep, familiar voice hissed in her ear.

Sobbing and shaking, Adeline turned around as the arms released her from their grip. Alrik stood behind her, his usually blue eyes flashing yellow… the same yellow that she had just seen in the creature’s eyes. He was shirtless, and she wondered how on earth he wasn’t freezing.

“I…. you…. what…” she stammered incoherently, realizing that the monster was in fact Alrik, the man that had taken her from her father.

As fear flooded her mind, she turned and ran to the edge of the deck, and then placed her hands on it as she stared overboard, trying to muster up the courage to jump. She couldn’t swim, but surely drowning in a freezing ocean was better than being torn apart by a terrifying wolf monster.

She heard a soft laugh behind her, and Alrik’s heavy footsteps pounded on the wooden deck as he slowly approached her. Still not brave enough to jump, she turned around and stared at the powerful man, her eyes wide with fear. He grabbed her by the shoulders like he had done earlier and held onto her tightly.

“Do you really think I’d let you jump? No, my sweet girl, I’ve waited too long to have you.”

“Please,” she whispered. “I just want to go home.”

Alrik’s face softened and he loosened his grip on her arms, still slightly holding onto her as if he was afraid she might actually jump overboard.

“That’s where I’m taking you. Home,” he said, his deep voice sending shivers down her spine. “I do not want you to be afraid. I wanted to wait ‘til the daylight to explain everything to you, but I suppose you were going to find out one way or the other.”

“Find out what?” she asked, more confused now than scared.

“What I am, and what you are. You’re one of us. Surely you always knew that you were different from the others in your village.”

“Yes. But I’m not a monster. Not like what I just saw!” she cried.

He laughed.

“No, you’re not a monster, and neither am I. I am a werewolf, as every man from the north lands is. Our women do not develop the shape-shifting abilities, but they are still
our
women, and that is what you are. One of us.”

“So the legends of Vikings turning into wolves in battle is true?” she asked.

“Yes. Why else would we be such good fighters? Normal human men couldn’t possibly stand up to us.”

“And you think I’m one of you?”

“I do not think, I
know.
When I was a young boy, the elder wolves promised me my future mate; the baby daughter of Erik and Berghildr. Despite what happened to them…. you are still my mate, and I’ve waited ten years for you to come of age so that I could come and get you.”

“You are mistaken,” she said. “My father is John the blacksmith from my home village. My mother died when I was a baby.”

“That’s half correct,” he replied. “Your real parents, Erik and Berghildr did in fact die when you were a baby. Neither of them was quite right in the head, and one day they took their baby out of the village and down to a fjord, and then left her on the shoreline.”

He paused and took a deep breath.

“They then drowned themselves. A traveling party of Englishmen found the baby and rescued her. She was nearly dead, but one of the men managed to nurse her back to health, and then took her back to England to raise as his own. That baby was you, Adeline.”

“No!” Adeline cried. “My father is the man who raised me, and no one else.”

“He is certainly your father in the sense that he took care of you as if you were his own daughter, but you did not spring forth from his loins. You are one of ours.”

Adeline had been afraid, but now she was angry. This strange man had cruelly kidnapped her from her home and was now claiming that she belonged with him… yet his story didn’t make much sense.

“If that is all true, then why did no one come for me sooner?” she asked, glaring up at him.

“Because by the time we found out where you were, the man you know as your father was already raising you. You seemed happy there, and we didn’t want to disrupt a happy childhood. It is such a rare and wonderful thing.”

“So why come now?”

“I had to. You have come of age, and I needed to take you as my mate.”

She didn’t know what ‘mate’ meant, but something else suddenly occurred to Adeline.

“Is that why no one ever attacked our village?”

“Yes. And as long as your father lives there, it will never be attacked. We are grateful to him for what he has done for you; for one of our own. One day, I will take you to see him, or bring him to the north to see you,” he replied.

“You… you would do that for me?” she asked, surprised at the hint of kindness that was now present in his voice.

Her fears had nearly dissipated as he explained everything in his deep, calm voice, and as she looked up into his glowing eyes, she noticed once again how handsome he was. Viking wolf-monster or not, he was affecting her mind and body in strange ways. Her stomach was flopping around again, and her heart raced as she imagined what it would be like for him to kiss her. She had never experienced a kiss before, but she had seen some of the girls from her home village sneakily kissing boys when they thought that no one was watching. At the time, it had seemed an odd thing to do, but now that she was standing before such a stunning, powerful man, it didn’t seem so odd after all.

“Of course. As my mate, you will have everything you desire. I’m a wealthy and powerful man, Adeline,” he replied.

“What do you mean by mate?” she said breathlessly.

The tingling between her legs was starting to become uncomfortable, as if she needed it to be released from her body in some way. She was starting to get an idea of what being the Viking’s mate meant, but she needed to hear him say it.

“As my mate,” he growled, stepping even closer to her. “You will be mine. I will be yours. And we will be together forever.”

“So… we would be married?”

“In a sense, yes. We do not do things the same way as the English. We will have a mating ceremony when we return, but the mating generally takes place the second that the wolf finds his promised mate.”

Adeline swallowed hard.
That means… now.
She had a vague idea of what married people did when they were alone, but she had never experienced it herself. Afraid again, she looked down to the deck.

“I… I’ve never…. been with a man before,” she said softly.

“I know,” he murmured, reaching for her chin and tilting it up so that she was looking straight at him again. “I’m the only man you’ll ever be with.”

“If I’m your mate, does that mean you’ll… kiss me?” she asked, feeling her face burn with embarrassment for asking such a shameful question.

He laughed, and his eyes seemed to burn a brighter shade of yellow.

“That depends. Do you want me to kiss you, my little Adeline?”

Adeline bit her tongue and looked away again. She wanted to say yes, but it was wrong to want a man in that way, especially before marriage. She had learned that in church, and been true to God until now.
But he’s so handsome, and I feel like I might explode into flames if he doesn’t….

“I can’t,” she finally replied. “God wouldn’t approve.”

He tilted her chin up to his again and spoke gently.

“Where we are going, there are different gods. The gods of our people look favorably on mating, as it produces children. And part of that process might just involve kissing.”

The last of Adeline’s resolve to stay a chaste virgin finally melted, and she widened her eyes before replying.

“Alrik. I want you to kiss me now,” she whispered.

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she knew that she had made the right choice. Alrik’s eyes burned with barely-contained arousal as he pounced on her, scooping her up in both of his strong arms and resting her on the edge of the deck.

“No! I could fall!” she cried.

He leaned closer and moved his mouth over her ear, his stubble grazing the soft skin of her neck as he did so.

“I’ll hold onto you. I told you I wouldn’t ever let you go once I had you,” he growled.